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Sir John Rupert "Jock" ColvilleCB, CVO
(28 January 1915 - November 1987), was a British civil servant. He
is best known for his diaries, which provide an intimate view of
number 10
Downing Street during the wartime Prime Ministership of Winston
Churchill.

Churchill was, as appears from the diaries, fond of Colville,
and he was also close to the rest of the Churchill family. When
Churchill was ill with pneumonia, it was Colville who was summoned
from his brief stint of active service in the RAF to
accompany Clementine
Churchill on an aeroplane to Egypt to visit him, although it
was clear on their arrival that Churchill's life was not in danger.
Typical of the badinage between Churchill and his private secretary
is the exchange when Churchill asks Colville how old he is,
immediately before Colville's departure for RAF service in 1941. On
being told, Churchill pointed out that, at 26, Napoleon was commanding
the armies of Italy. Colville replied that the Younger Pitt was Prime Minister at
the age of 24. The diaries provide, however, more important
insights as well. They record many conversations between Churchill
and his political and military colleagues, as well as his private
thoughts. They illustrate the contrast between the "atmosphere of
rush" about Churchill, as compared with the shorter hours and
reduced energy levels associated with his predecessor Chamberlain, whom Colville had also
served. They show how, even when beset by disasters in the early
days of his premiership, Churchill was still able to raise the
spirits of those around him with his sense of purpose, and his
sense of humour. They reveal that much of Churchill's
correspondence (although none of his speeches) was drafted by
Colville and others in their imitations of Churchill's distinctive
style, albeit subject to his approval. The diaries also cover
Churchill's peacetime premiership and his regularly deferred
retirement, and note that, when Churchill did finally retire,
Colville found him sitting on his bed at 10 Downing Street saying
(of his successor, Eden) "I don't think Anthony can do
it!".

Later public
career

He was an Executive Director of Hill Samuel Ltd, 1955-80.
Colville was instrumental in raising funding for the establishment
of Churchill College as a national memorial to
Sir Winston Churchill and was made an
Honorary Fellow of Churchill
College, Cambridge, in 1971. He was
joint honorary secretary of the Other Club for many years. Colville
was a Trustee of both Sir Winston and Lady Churchill's estates. At
various times in his life he was Company Director of the Provident
Life Association, the London Committee, the Ottoman Bank, and Eucalyptus Pulp Mills
Ltd.

Bibliography

Colville wrote or contributed to a number of books
including:

Fools' Pleasure, 1935

Action This Day-Working with Churchill, 1968

Man of Valour: Field Marshal Lord Gort V.C., 1972

Footprints in Time, 1976

The New Elizabethans, 1977

The Portrait of a General, 1980

The Churchillians, 1981

Strange Inheritance, 1983

Those Lambtons!, 1988 (released posthumously)

Family

In 1948 Colville married Lady Margaret Egerton, with whom he had
two sons and one daughter. They lived in Hampshire.

Honours

Colville was knighted in 1974, having previously
been awarded the CB in 1955, and the CVO
in 1949. He died in November 1987, aged 72.